Five things to know about the Kansas City Chiefs’ next opponent: Buffalo Bills
Bills coach Sean McDermott didn’t say anything that could be construed as bulletin-board material when asked Sunday about facing the Chiefs in a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship Game.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for them,” McDermott said after Buffalo beat Houston. “Andy Reid always has his team ready to go and I’ll know more, a little bit once I get a chance to get into them after tonight, but they’re a good football team. I know Andy has done a great job, a Hall of Fame coach there.”
Each week, I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here are five things to know about the Bills before Sunday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:20 p.m., and KSHB (Ch. 41) will broadcast the game.
1. The nuts and bolts
The Bills lead the AFC East with a 3-1 record after crushing the Houston Texans 40-0 in Buffalo on Sunday.
Buffalo leads the all-time series 26-23-1, but the Chiefs have won six of the previous seven meetings, including two straight. That includes a 38-24 victory in last year’s AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bills are averaging 33.5 points per game, which is second in the NFL, while allowing just 11 points per game, which is No. 1 in the league.
Buffalo is first in the NFL in takeaways (plus-7)
2. The defense
Buffalo has posted shutouts in two of its last three games and has allowed the fewest passing yards per game (145). The Bills have allowed 68 yards per game on the ground, the fourth-lowest in the NFL.
Houston had 8 yards of offense in the first half of Sunday’s game and finished with just 109 overall. The Texans had a mere six first downs.
Defensive end Gregory Rousseau and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei both have a team-high two sacks. Buffalo has 20 quarterback hurries, the third-most in the NFL, and their 12 sacks are tied for the sixth most.
Buffalo is pressuring quarterbacks on 30.1% of dropbacks, the second-most in the league, according to Pro Football Reference.
3. Josh Allen
Quarterback Josh Allen completed 20 of 29 passes for 248 yards with two touchdowns on Sunday. Both TD passes went to Dawson Knox (a 25-yarder and a 1-yarder)
Allen, who has completed 99 of 156 passes for 1,055 yards and nine touchdowns this season, can be a handful for opposing defenses. This pass against Houston illustrates the point:
The Bills rank 12th in the NFL in passing (258.8 yards per game).
4. The rushing attack
Buffalo is fifth in the NFL with an average of 145.3 rushing yards per game. Devin Singletary leads the Bills with 259 rushing yards and he has scored one touchdown. He is averaging 5.3 yards per attempt.
Zach Moss has 145 yards rushing and three touchdowns, including this one Sunday.
5. Red Zone issues
The Chiefs’ red-zone defense was better on Sunday, while Buffalo struggled on offense in that area against Houston.
In Sunday’s win, the Bills had to settle for field goals on four possessions after moving to the Houston 15-, 8-, 2- and 10-yard line. They were also 1 for 7 on third-down plays in the first half.
“I think in the first half. We were what? Oh-for-three in the red zone,” McDermott said. “And so that’s why I say you go back to the drawing board and improve what we’ve got to improve on. ...
“We’ve got to go back and look at why we weren’t converting in those situations, even I think third downs in the first half: one for seven. Not good enough. So a lot to work overall for our whole football team.”
The Bills appeared to get things figured out in the fourth quarter. They scored touchdowns on all three fourth-quarter drives. One of those touchdowns was on a run by backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
